Wales to get additional £200m of UK Gov’t funding to support Covid-19 response through winter months

Wales is to get an additional £200 million in covid funding from the UK Government to support people, businesses and public services with the ongoing impact of pandemic.

Any changes to devolved funding are normally confirmed towards the end of the financial year – but in July the UK Government introduced a guarantee to provide them with funding certainty to respond to Covid-19.

The funding is part of an £800 million package for the devolved nations, Scotland will receive £400m and Northern Ireland £200m and can spend the funding as they see fit.

The announcement “ensures that all parts of the UK can continue their response to Covid-19 through the winter months.” The UK Government said.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay MP said: “We’ve already committed unprecedented levels of support to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

“This extra funding will provide the nations with the certainty they need to plan through these difficult months.”

“We remain committed to an economic recovery for the whole of the United Kingdom and will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations to support people and businesses.”

Delyn MP Rob Roberts welcomed the additional funding for Wales, but queried the Welsh Government allocations of funding.

The Conservative MP said: “To date, Welsh Government is yet to allocate more than £1.8bn of the additional funding they have received, despite businesses in Delyn being in dire need of assistance – particularly in the hospitality, tourism and “close contact” industries such as hairdressing and beauticians.

“Hopefully the Welsh Government will use this extra funding, which takes their “unallocated” funds to £2bn in total to provide some respite for local businesses that have already been well served by the U.K. Government’s monumental furlough and self-employed grant schemes and have now been forced into closure once again because of high case numbers in South Wales despite those in the North being only a fraction as severe.”